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I found the Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle well written but extremely confusing. However this was highly recommended so I gave it a chance. The writing is excellent so not a pan but I just wasn‘t feeling the story at all and absolutely hated the ending. I found it repetitive and again confusing (maybe I lost interest and so lost the thread?). I can‘t recommend it but if you liked Evelyn you may like this too.

Governor General Jan Haan is a brute who mistreats his wife, Sara, daughter, Lisa and mistress Creesie. Forced to sail on The Saardam, they know Haan has brought secret cargo on board. They could not know that an evil force stalks the passengers and crew, but is Old Tom real, and what is the Eighth Light that keeps appearing? Turton keeps us guessing and provides a great ending. An exciting read!

#green
#coverlove

#SundayFunday

Turton knows how to keep you guessing, this one was a total yarn. Such an entertaining read.

@BookmarkTavern

Pleased with my dedication... it says "Happy I praised and insulted you in one answer!"

I'm struggling to explain it concisely, so I'll leave this here looking mysterious ?

(Also, he watched my YouTube review of his latest book ????)

If you haven't already, read all of his books. They are a delight. More authors need to genre-blend like this!

I am posting one book per day from my extensive, and ever growing, TBR shelves. Some are old and some are new, some were gifts and some I don't remember why I bought them.
Day 50
#ABookADay2024

Thanks so much @AllDebooks for the book and other goodies. I really appreciate it 😺
#Book2Book

#Book2Book

Please comment if you would like this copy of The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Tuton. I am happy to ship internationally. Good condition.

📣 Please note that this is only open to those who registered for the #Book2Book event. If you are interested in future events, comment below and I'll add you to the taglist. 📣

Blah.I so loved the author's first book (7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) and this was a big disappointment. It read like a drawn out Agatha Christi. I love her, but she is certainly of a place and doesn't take up 450 pages only to have the killers confess. Meh and boo

#maymontage
#water

#Dark from my TBR list. #MayMontage

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

@PuddleJumper Here are the books that have landed on the island with you. I imagine they are dry and in great condition 😅 Happy Reading!

@aperfectmjk #trappedonanisland

Another stunning mystery from Stuart Turton. The amount of gears all turning together to propel the pieces of the story onward are pleasantly dizzying.

“So this is how men go to the devil, he thought bitterly. Cap in hand and short of hope, all their prayers gone unanswered.”

He did it to me again! I swear this author excels at telling one captivating story for 400 pages, then suggesting a different one at the end. Weirdly enough, I'm not mad at it. It's a sweeping tale and it had me hooked from beginning to end. Turton leans into human failings but you never feel completely disillusioned by the end, and that sliver of hope keeps me coming back. I eagerly anticipate his next genre-bending mystery. ⚠️Fatphobia(?).

Aw, c'mon Stuart, it's not that bad! Strange self-own for an Englishman to write...

One of the best dedications I've read.

“The weak shouldn‘t have to fear the powerful, and the powerful shouldn‘t simply be allowed to take what they wanted without consequence. Power should be a burden, not a shield. It should be used to everyone‘s betterment, not merely for the person who wielded it.”

#alphabetgame #letterD

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This was an immensley enjoyable, murder mystery. Twists and turns galore all onboard a ship at sea, set in 1634. Deliciously dark, gothic storyelling. Loved it!

“I‘ll not have some bastard drown me before the governor general hangs me.”

“For the most part, they investigated thefts and murders, crimes long committed and easily understood. It was like arriving to the theater after the performance had ended and being asked to work out the story using pieces of discarded script and the props left on stage. But here was a crime not yet undertaken, a chance to save lives rather than avenge them.”

I loved the idea of this locked room (locked ship?) mystery, but ultimately it didn‘t really work for me. It takes too long to get going and then much of it takes far to long to develop. I was so ready for it to be over.

This was great! So much fun, and the mystery was really good. It kept me awake and engaged with a newborn, which is pretty high praise!

Not much luck with book spin this month! This was my #doublespin & it was ok… I MUCH preferred 7 1/2 deaths though, & thinking I was expecting something more similar in theme (eg; more weird, alternate universe style)… I did like the ending though!

Awesome! I enjoyed the mystery; the puzzle to be solved by our hero is really neat and the atmosphere is creepy and crazy: Is a demon murdering people in a doomed ship?
The ending seems to suggest there might be in future other mysteries with the same protagonists and that would be really neat

I might have have done a lot of book shopping, but I did a lot of saving too; so I suppose it‘s all about balance 😌 #tbr #spookyreads #halloweenweekend #contemporary

I have not read a good scary story this month. I hope this one changes that.
Harpy doesn‘t think so. She‘s only scared that I will run out of soft food.

#TheDevilAndTheDarkWater #StuartTurton #OutstandingOctober #BookSpinBingo

1634, Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. Among the other guests is Sara Wessel, a noblewoman with a secret. Devilry begins to blight the voyage.

I said no book buying until after the Halloween swaps...

B&N got me again with the buy one get one 1/2 off.

It‘s okay though; I had not heard of either book before so they weren‘t on my wish lists. 😉

I have been very absent in September, but I have read. Instead of playing catch up and offering excuses I went Halloween crazy for my #bookspin list this month. My plan is to use the little “doom buggies” as my BINGO spaces and put a foolish mortal in each one I complete. Just remember to “Beware Hitch-hiking Ghosts!” #bookjournal

A dark but gripping murder mystery come adventure story. There‘s a bit of all sorts going on including a hint of the supernatural and some witchcraft. But at the heart of it is an intricate and clever plot with some fantastic characters. I did find it a little confusing at times as there are quite a lot of characters, some of whom had different ways of being. An exciting and intriguing read.

Here are my #Bookspin and #Doublespin for September. I didn‘t realize Extant is a novella, so I should definitely get to it. It‘s also not in the database, but I will add later.

“Whatcha readin‘, mom?!” - Webster

Came home from a weekend getaway to a most lovely birthday surprise from my pen pal Mikala @Laughterhp. I actually gasped when I opened the Devil and the Dark Water as I thought about buying it earlier this summer but decided to wait for the paperback release, what amazing timing! Thank you 🤗💚

Historical setting, but probably leans a little more towards horror. Slow moving, but I liked it.

I enjoyed this, I was for once incorrect about most things, and definitely misread the tone between some of the characters. It had a bit of a slow start, though, it was only about halfway or so that things began to pick up. The ending also felt a little rushed, but other than that I thought it was fun and read most of it in a single sitting!

Not too far into it, but so far I‘m loving the unusually vivid character descriptions in this book.

I loved The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and had been waiting for this book to come out. I got so distracted by life, I didn‘t realize it was out last October! Excited that I ran into it at B&N, on a “booktok” shelf of all things. I‘m flying to VA later this week and have plenty to read at the moment!

Lucky me got another unexpected 5 star book in June! How rare is that?! The more I read in this book, the more I got captivated. The setting fits. The atmosphere fits. The characters fit. I love how Turton tells this wicked story - nobody really knows what's going on and what'll happen next. It's also a great Sherlock Holmes kind of book, but here Watson goes around doing the work. And it's all set on a boat at sea

@TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo

Here‘s my review of Stuart Turton‘s second novel, The Devil and the Dark Water. This is a historical thriller set aboard a ship in the seventeenth century. There is a selection of colourful characters, a hint of romance a few murders and a tidy conclusion that I didn‘t predict. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It is set in the 17th century on a ship, so it was out of my comfort zone. However I enjoyed the variety of characters, the vivid descriptions and the story, except for the info dump at the end. That rather let the book down. I did not predict the ending and will look forward to Turton‘s next novel.

I mean... it was ok? Not exactly my idea of what a thriller is supposed to entail and I‘m also not hugely into historical fiction so I suppose it just wasn‘t really my cup of tea from the get go. The setting of the ship was probably my favourite part to be honest as I haven‘t read a huge amount of books where that‘s the setting so that was original to me at least. The story... meh. The characters... meh. Also, unnecessarily long.

I gave this 3 hours, and I‘m not giving it anymore of my time. I‘m already forgetting the names of characters, and I still don‘t know what the book was about really 🤷‍♀️

When you are reading at the pace of a snail, finishing a 400+ page book is a total win! And snails are cool, so there‘s that.
I loved this book. There are mysteries within mysteries, wrapped up in puzzles, and by the end you‘re like WHAT the hell just happened? I enjoyed the ride 😂😁

Stuart Turton is officially on my must-read list. While completely different than his The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, it was just as amazing. I enjoy his plotting and his originality in each book.

Did I like the story? At the start, yes, then my interest in it waned. The beginning was exciting, mysterious, and sinister but as the plot unfurled, I felt like some very obvious clues were being overlooked. I kept waiting for someone to notice what I felt were leads that should be explored. What truly left me feeling disappointed was the ending. I felt that it was just ridiculous and that left an overall bad taste for me on the book as a whole.

Absolutely loving this book, and thrilled to have such a beautiful signed copy!